Vice President Kamala Harris addresses gun violence, abortion rights at the National Urban League Conference
“We are a nation in mourning as a result of gun violence,” the vice president said.
On Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris appeared at the National Urban League Conference in Washington, D.C. to address key issues important to the Black community, including gun violence, the overturning of Roe v. Wade and midterm elections, in a 30-minute “fireside chat” with Birmingham, Ala., Mayor Randall Woodfin.
Before Harris took to the stage, Marc Morial, the National Urban League president and CEO, introduced her and told convention attendees that she would “Incite a call to action in each of you.”
Recent mass shootings were the first key topic as Harris told Woodfin, “We are a nation in mourning as a result of gun violence” and informed the audience that Black people have been disproportionately affected by gun violence in cities across the country.
“Whether it is a mass shooting of 20 odd people in one part of our country or in a given city. Twenty people in 20 days dying from gun violence. We know it is something we need to address. When I look at the failure of the United States Congress to have the courage to act, I think it is a call for all of us to demand action and demand that they have courage,” she said.
Harris condemned the use of assault rifles and declared that federal legislation needs to be passed in order to prevent mass shootings from happening in the first place.
“There is no reason that we have weapons of war on the streets of America. So, when I think about what we need to do and what ultimately falls on the shoulders of our mayors to address on a community level, we need to take action at the federal level in terms of passing smart gun safety laws. We need to get rid of and repeal this liability shield for gun manufacturers,” she said.
While speaking with Woodfin, the vice president pushed back on the call to arm teachers in the event of a school shooting.
“One of the things that we got to stop saying is that the way that we’ll keep our children safe in school is if their teacher has a gun. We got to stop that. That’s not the solution” she explained. “We have to elect people in the next 109 days who will promote safety by understanding the connection between things like reasonable gun safety laws and safety.”
Harris and Woodfin also discussed the Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“All women should have to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do,” the VP said. “The United States Supreme Court took a constitutional right that had been recognized from the people of America. The women of America.”
She also spotlighted racial bias within the medical field and stated that the Supreme Court’s decision will greatly impact Black women.
“When it relates to Black women, the facts are clear. Regardless of her socioeconomic level. Regardless of her educational level. She is three times more likely to die in connection with childbirth,” she said.
Towards the end of the discussion, Harris informed the audience that President Joe Biden said, “he will not let the filibuster stand in the way of passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, the Freedom to Vote Act and the Women’s Health Protection Act.”
She encouraged the audience to vote, “so that we can pass federal legislation and deal with the fact that you’ve got these extremist so-called leaders in places like Georgia, Florida and Texas, who are intentionally trying to make it more difficult for people to cast their ballots.”
Harris ended the discussion by challenging local leaders “to remind people of why elections matter.”
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